'That dude was creepy.' May states.

'What dude?' Athena queries.

'The guy she was talking to.' May replies. 'He was staring at her and smirking. Essie looked absolutely petrified.' Bobby and Athena look at each other. 'You didn't notice?'

'We weren't really paying attention.' Athena says. 'I'll look into it.'

~

It's been a few days. Christopher has been spending the day at Buck's. It's 5 pm when Essie arrives at Buck's to pick Christopher up. She knocks on the door and a few seconds later, Buck answers.

'Essie.' Buck smiles. 'Come in.' Essie walks in and Buck closes the door. 

'How's he been?' Essie asks.

'Good.' Buck nods. 'He's spent most of the day playing video games.' He leads Essie through the house and to the living area where Christopher is sat on the sofa with Maddie. 'He's hasn't had any food yet.' 

'That's fine.' Essie replies. 'I was planning on taking him to Taco Bell anyway.' Maddie then stands up and walks over to them. 

'Essie, this is my sister, Maddie.' Buck introduces Maddie to Essie. 'Maddie, this is Essie. Eddie's daughter.' 

'Eddie and Essie.' Maddie says slowly.

'Yeah.' Essie laughs. 'My mom thought that it would be cute.' 

'Well, it is.' Buck also laughs.

'I don't think that my mom took into account that it wouldn't be cute once I reached the age of ten.' Essie replies with a laugh. She looks at the time on her watch. 'I better get Chris home so dad doesn't start to wonder where we are.' Buck turns around and walks over to Christopher.

'Hey, buddy.' Buck starts. Christopher looks up at him. 'Essie's here to take you home.' 

'Okay.' Christopher nods. He stands up, walks over to Essie and hugs her.

'Hey, bud.' Essie grins as she hugs Christopher back. 'We're going to get dinner on the way home, okay?' She tells him as she helps him with his coat. 

'Yeah.' Christopher nods. 

'What do you say to Buck for letting you come here today?' Essie asks him.

'Thank you.' Christopher thanks Buck. 

'No problem.' Buck smiles. 'I'll see you soon.'

'Bye.' Christopher grins. 

'See ya.' Essie adds. 'It was nice meeting you, Maddie.' Essie nods at Maddie. 

'You too.' Maddie smiles before Buck shows Christopher and Eddie out.

.

It is 9 pm. Buck is on his nightly walk. He's walking along the waterfront when he sees Essie sitting on a bench. He walks over to her and sits down. 

'Essie?' He starts. Essie looks at him and he can see that she's been crying. 'What's happened?' 

'I'm fine.' Essie shakes her head as she looks back out to the water. 'I come here when I'm having a mental health crisis.' 

'What do you mean?' Buck asks confused.

'I felt like cutting again.' Essie looks back at Buck. 'I haven't cut since I went into the facility but today, today I just-'

'It's okay.' Buck cuts her off. 'You don't have to explain yourself.' He adds. 'Does your dad know that you're here?' 

'Yeah.' Essie nods. 'He's drug tests me at least three times a day and makes me do a breathalyser.' She looks down. 'Something happened at the facility. Something bad.' 

'Do you want to talk about it?' Buck questions.

'Not really.' Essie looks back up.

'Why don't you let me walk you home?' Buck offers. 'It's getting late.'

'I'll be fine.' Essie says. 'I just need to be alone for a bit.' 

'Okay.' Buck nods. 'You have my number. If you'd rather come back to mine than go home, call me.' Essie nods and Buck leaves. 

After half an hour, Essie decides to head home. After a couple of minutes of walking, she spots Lukas walking towards her. Not wanting to have to deal with him, she swiftly turns around and starts walking quickly in the other direction; but it's no use, Lukas catches up with her. He grabs onto her and forcibly turns her around.

'That's no way to treat someone.' Lukas raises an eyebrow. 

'Let go of me!' Essie tries to break free from his grasp but it only tightens. 'Lukas, leave me alone.'

'Why have you been ignoring me?' Lukas asks her. 

'I want you out of my life.' Essie states managing to break free from his grasp. 

'It's not going to be that easy.' Lukas smirks grabbing onto her again. 'You are never getting rid of me.' Athena and May are walking on the other side of the road. 

'Mom.' May says. Athena looks at her daughter. 'Isn't that Essie and the guy from the movie theatre?' May asks pointing over to Essie and Lukas. Athena looks over and then back at May. 

'Yeah.'  Athena nods. 'His name is Lukas Cartridge. He's a nurse at the rehab facility that Essie was at.' She notices that Lukas has a firm grip on Essie. 'Let's go over.' They both walk over the road. 'Essie.' Athena calls out to the young girl. Lukas quickly lets go of her and they turn to face Athena and May. 'Everything okay?' 

'Everything's fine.' Lukas smiles at Athena.

'I wasn't talking to you.' Athena glares at him.

'Who are you?' Lukas asks.

'Sergeant Athena Grant.' Athena responds. 'LAPD.' She adds. 'I suggest you walk away and go home.' 

'Me and Essie are just having a little chat. Nothing-' Lukas starts to say but Athena cuts him off. 

'Let's put it this way,' Athena says, 'if you don't walk away, I will arrest you for assault.' Lukas scoffs and shakes his head. 

'Fine.' Lukas turns around and walks off.

'Are you okay, Essie?' Athena asks Essie.

'Yeah.' Essie nods. 'I'm fine. He just wanted to see how I'm doing.' She lies.

'Are you sure?' Athena asks trying to edge the truth out of her.

'I'm sure.' Essie replies. There are a couple of minutes of silence.

'Why don't you let me drive you home?' Athena offers.

'I'll be fine.' Essie replies.

'She wasn't offering.' May laughs.

'I'm sure your dad would appreciate it.' Athena adds.

'Okay.' Essie nods.

'The car is just around the corner.' Athena says.

.

Ten minutes later, Athena is pulling up in front of Essie's house.

'Thanks.' Essie smiles slightly. She unbuckles her seat belt and goes to get out. 'Please don't tell my dad about what you saw tonight.' She turns back to Athena.

'Essie-' Athena starts.

'He doesn't need anything else to worry about.' Essie states. 'I'm fine. Like I said, Lukas was just checking up on me. He knows how hard it was for me whilst I was in rehab.'

'Is he following you?' Athena questions.

'No. What makes you think that?' Essie laughs.

'When you took Chris to the movie theatre you saw him then and you had the same look on your face as you did tonight.' Athena tells her. 'Essie, if he's causing you any trouble, I can help.'

'He's not causing me any trouble.' Essie shakes her head unconvincingly.

'If he does start causing you ony trouble, call me.' Athena tells her. Essie simply nods, gets out of the car. Once they see that Essie is in the house, May and Athena look at each other.

'Mom, something is definitely going on.' May states.

'I know, but there's not much I can do unless she says that something is happened or has happened,' Athena replies. She notices that May looks a bit distressed, 'but I can see if I can get the facility's security footage and look through that.'

.

It's bright and early the next morning. Essie gets out of bed, slips her black cardigan and white slipper boots on. She walks out of her room and walks to Eddie's room. She knocks on the door.

'Dad, I'm going to make breakfast. Do you want anything?' She asks as she walks in. Once she's finished, two heads pop out from under the covers. 'What the fuck?!'

~~~~~

I wanted to put this up later but I have a feeling I'll forget so here I'm putting it up now 😅

Let me know what you think!

Much love